The Senate has been urged to step up its oversight of county governments to address deep-rooted weaknesses in Early Childhood Development Education that are putting learning gains at risk.
Basic Education PS Prof Julius Bitok warned that although access to schooling has expanded across the country, cracks at the pre-primary level are threatening the foundation of learning for millions of children.
Speaking during the Fifth Session planning retreat in Naivasha on Friday, Bitok told senators that Kenya has recorded strong progress in access to education, but the quality of learning, especially at the foundational stage, remains fragile.
He pointed to data showing that while pre-primary enrolment has reached 94.2 per cent, outcomes in upper grades reveal serious gaps.
According to the PS, three out of every ten learners in Grade Six cannot handle mathematics meant for Grade Three pupils. In addition, close to half of them struggle to understand an English passage designed for Grade Three.
“These statistics demand urgent intervention. We must move from focusing only on enrolment numbers to ensuring quality learning,” said Bitok.
He noted that the national government has made major strides in basic education, including achieving nearly full transition to senior school under the Competency-Based Education system. He said 100,000 teachers have been recruited, classrooms and laboratories have been expanded, and capitation funds are now released on time to schools.
Bitok also cited the recent verification exercise that removed ghost learners from school registers, saying it will support proper planning and ensure funds are shared based on accurate figures.
Despite these gains, he maintained that the most serious challenges remain within ECDE, a function handled by county governments. He called on the Senate to ensure that counties give priority to child-friendly facilities in their County Integrated Development Plans.
In several areas, he said, young learners still study under trees or in weak and unsafe structures. At the same time, ECDE teachers face delayed pay, lack of pension schemes and short-term contracts that weaken morale and professionalism.
“An unhappy teacher cannot nurture a child’s mind. We must harmonise schemes of service and move away from short-term contracts that undermine professionalism,” he said.
The PS further highlighted gaps in school feeding programmes across counties. While some counties provide meals for learners, others do not, leading to uneven support for children.
He described this situation as a “lottery of birth,” where a child’s access to nutrition depends on their place of residence. To address this, Bitok proposed a joint national and county framework to guarantee at least one fortified meal every day for each ECDE learner.
He also pushed for closer coordination between the two levels of government to seal policy gaps between pre-primary and primary education. This includes adopting a uniform curriculum, ensuring fair distribution of resources and fully rolling out the Kenya Education Management Information System to monitor learners from early years.
Bitok told senators that the education budget has now crossed Sh700 billion, the highest ever, but still faces a Sh111 billion shortfall required to fully support free primary education, school feeding and national assessments.
The Senate was asked to back the proposed Basic Education Amendment Bill 2025, which seeks to define roles between national and county governments more clearly and strengthen coordination in the sector.
Reminding senators of their oversight duty, the PS said they are “ultimate guardians” of the more than four million children enrolled in ECDE centres.
“Your oversight is the bridge between a child’s potential and their reality. By holding counties accountable, you ensure funds meant for our youngest learners reach the classroom,” he said.
The retreat, which brought together senior government officials, is reviewing key laws and oversight plans ahead of the upcoming parliamentary session.
